Method of producing alcohol from the waste sulfite-cellulose lyes.



' lb all whom it may concern:

EU PATENT OFFICE,

PER GOSTA EKSTROM, O33 SKUTSKAR, SWEDEN, .ASSIGNOR TO STORA KOPPARBERGSBYRGSLAGS AKTIEBOLAG, OF FALUN, SWEDEN, A CORPORATION OF SWEDEN.

ME'IPHUI) 01" IPRODUCING ALCOHOL FROM THE WASTE SULFITE-CELLULOSE LYES.

it 0 Drawing.

Be it known that 1, PER Giis'rA E'Ksrntirr, a subject of the King ofSweden, and resident of Slcutslqiir, in the Kingdom of Sweden, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in the Method of ProducingAlcohol from Waste SulliteCellulos i Lycs, of which. the following is aspecification.

As is well known the waste lyes from sullite cellulose factories containfcrmentable sugar which may be converted into alcohol by means offermentation. oi making this fermentation process possiblelS,'.l,1OW6VI, that calcium bisu'lfite and sulfurou's acid are firstremoved from the said .lycs because the said substances act poisons uponthe yeast and kill the same.

lln producing alcohol from wastesullite cellulose lyes lime has hithertobeen used for m ralizing the lyes, that is to say for re movingbisulfitc and su llurous acid from the same. However, as it has beenfound necessary to reduce much as possible the costs of raw materialsemployed in order to make the product-hm of alcohol from waste sulliliecellulose lyes perfectly profitable, and as the lime hitherto employedfor neutralizing purposes always causes certain expenses due to purchaseand trans-- port it has in this industry been considered highlydesirable to get a cheaper neutralizing; ag nt, This is attainedacorn-ding to i l 2 present invention by using as a neutralizing agent alime mud which is obtained as a waste product in manufacturing cellulosezuj'cordiug to the soda and sulfate cellulose methods, rutrcording tothese methods wood or oil or mate ial containing cellulose is boiledwith caustic soda, the difference bet ween the said methods consistingthere in that the loss of alkali is covered in the soda cellulose methodby adding sodium carbonate and in the sulfate cclhilosc method by addingsodium sulfate to the lye.

The above mentioned lime mud is obtainei in the following n'ianner. Thelye employed in executing the boiling operation is, for regenerating thealkaline salts, evapo' rated to dryness and calcined or melted,

Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed April 28, 1909.Serial No. 492,648.

The condition Patented Aug. 6, 1912.

whereby the organic constituents of thcsamc are burned. The calcined ormelted mass is then treated with hot water whereby the sodium carbonateformed by the ciu'ciniug operation is dissolved. The solution thusformed is saturated with lime whereby sodium hydrate and calciumcarbonate are formed, the latter being the above mentioned lime mud.This lime mud having hitherto formed a waste product of no value maythus be obtained free of cost. The same is not a pure calcium carbonatebut because of its mode of formation it also contains some organicconstituents, as for instance phosphoric acid, and, furthermore, saltsof sodium and magnesium, the said substances forming nourisliments forthe yeast in the subsequent alcoholic fermentation. Thus by,

using the above mentioned lime mud for neutralizing waste sulfitecellulose lyes in producing alcohol from the same the double advantageis gained that the neutralizing agent costs little or nothing and thatbesides neutralizing the lye the said agent also enriches the same withnutritive matter for the yeast. The lye having in this manner beenneutralized is now fermentable, and the same is then fermented in anysuitable manner.

What I claim is:

In manufacturing alcohol by fermenting the waste lye from the sulfitepulp process the method of neutralizing theacid lye to be lin-mcnled andincreasing its percentage of substances serving as yeast food during theFermentation process, which consists in adding to the acid lye lime.mudobtained as a waste product in nmnufacturing cellulose according to thesoda or sulfate cellu- A lose method, substantially as and for thepurpose set forth.

In witness whereof, IhHVGhQICUIIlZOSIgIIt 'l my name mthe presence oftwo subscril lug witnesses.

PER G'OSTA EKsTRoM.

Witncsses AxnL EHRNER, ANNA Soonnsrnom.

